Miscommunications Lead to Fall-Out
by teamfreewill82
Summary: The first time they had seen each other he had called her out and laughed with his friends. [EDITED] [ONE-SHOT]


**Disclaimer: I do not own **_**Lemonade Mouth**_** or anything that is somehow related to it besides my own writing. The title of this song is a line from Taylor Swift's 'The Story Of Us,' which I don't own. All rights go to their respective owners. **

The first time they had seen each other he had called her out and laughed with his friends. Anyone that wasn't Ray himself would see only that. But really, she was gorgeous; anyone with eyes could tell that much. And he had. He'd checked her out silently and let his friends have their moment… but he'd wished he could go after her as she'd walked away from them. From him.

The next time he had seen her he'd ignored her. What would he say? He'd kept his mouth shut and his business to himself. But then Jules and her crony, Patty, _had_ to come and tell her to move. It wasn't even as though the bleachers were reserved; they just enjoyed harassing everyone. He knew that, but the new girl didn't. She'd thought they were being nice to her, saying hello. But that had quickly turned sour and he'd seen it going south before she could. She clearly wasn't going to back down, that much was obvious, and part of him had been impressed–though he would never admit it. Who would even ask? But he knew that his girls were about to get angry and cause a scene, so he had gotten to his feet and, because he knew helping the new girl would mean suicide for himself, simply told some other kids to move so the cheerleaders could have a seat. He had heard them call her a freak. He hadn't said a word, feigning interest in whatever Brenigan was saying.

Really, what was he expected to do? Jules and Patty had confronted him about Stella. They'd noticed something was up, girl-tuition or something. He'd told them they were crazy, tried to keep them calm, but Jules had only smiled sweetly at him. He knew then that he was screwed. She gave him an ultimatum. She pointed out Olivia White to him, some girl from the new band with Stella. She was walking up to the Turbo Blast machine and said that he could either help her corner Olivia or… they'd tell everyone about his little crush on the new girl, no matter if he denied it. But he also knew what they knew–Olivia's friends, including _her_, would step up to defend Olivia. He'd pushed his stomach back down his throat and bit his tongue, agreeing with a tight but believable smile. He'd spoken to Olivia in the most condescending tone he could muster and Jules had smiled at him, seeming victorious for the reason of stealing Olivia's drink, not about what was actually going on. He had kept his eyes on Olivia until the last second he couldn't and then had again forced himself to speak to her ginger friend, to Mo, to Mo's secret admirer. When Stella had shown up, he'd been pissed. Part of him had hoped that she wouldn't be there at all and he could spare himself the effort of trying to be rude to her. But when she'd spit lemonade in his face… it hadn't been too hard, he'd found.

Okay. He hated to say it, but Scott was right. They were _amazing_. Who knew Olivia had such a huge voice, that _Charlie Delgado_ was actually good at something? And Mo–Ray for a moment was hit with the thought that Scott didn't even deserve her. He nearly slapped himself, and then again when he found himself watching Stella. Didn't she ever get exhausted from having so much energy and passion every day? It was like she never grew tired of standing up and shouting about her beliefs–and that was another thing, she actually _had_ things she believed in. He respected her, in a way he had never respected anyone else before… and it freaked him out.

When the band had become something, a–a _sensation_, he couldn't wrap his head around it. People who had idolized Mudslide Crush–_him_–had suddenly gotten up and left without the smallest of glances in his general direction. Needless to say, he was pissed. They walked by his group amidst screams and shouts, Stella only sparing him the scarcest eye roll before continuing on her merry way to stardom. He felt it like a punch to the gut, and hoped it was only his upset over losing popularity and not her indifference towards him.

So maybe it was a dick move. Maybe they were having an off day and for him to do what he did made him an even bigger jackass than he was before. But it was his chance to shut them down–to shut _her_ down–and he'd be damned if he missed it. And it wasn't as though he had planned it for _that_ day, specifically. It just happened–all of Mo's hacking and Charlie's concerned puppy eyes towards her; it was all just too much. He had to act, before Jules and Patty spilled the beans. So he'd stood and grabbed the mic from Olivia, ready to… do something. But the only thing he could think to say was something lame like 'loser mouth'; it didn't even make sense and he was almost relieved when Wen tried to take back the microphone. He was better at fighting than trash-talking anyway.

Even afterwards, after they'd lost Rising Star, it was like they had won. They became, somehow, more popular than ever, and Mudslide Crush was six feet under. He was _stuck_. His best friend left him for Lemonade Mouth, _she_ didn't give two cents about him... It suddenly struck home that his life sucked. And he didn't know what he could do about it.


End file.
